BATSE and HEXTE light curves of GX 339‐4 and a nearly linear correlation between the peak fluxes of the initial LH states in the outbursts of GX 339‐4 and the time since the latest LH state peak in the previous outburst (inset). The HEXTE (20–250 keV) count rates are divided by 305 so that the RXTE/HEXTE light curve matches the BATSE light curve for the 1996–1998 outburst. The triangles indicate the LH state peaks used to determine the peak‐to‐peak waiting time. The diamonds are used only to call attention to the data points; their sizes have no meaning. The dashed line passes the origin and the data point of maximal peak flux, showing an example of a linear relation.